Improved wafer rotary switch with stator printed circuit contact structure and rotor

ABSTRACT

A printed circuit rotary switch with stator clips soldered thereon and having wiping surfaces spaced from the surface of the switch section. The rotor blade is mounted on a flanged body, in alignment with the wiper contacts and has legs extending through the rotor opening securing the rotor to the stator. The stator has spiral inductors for a tuner printed on one surface, with the beginning terminal of one inductor radially aligned with the ending terminal of the next and joined by a stator contact.

United States Patent [72] inventor Walter Meyer McI'Ienry, Ill. [21]Appl. No. 881,201 [22] Filed Dec. 1, 1969 [23] Division of Ser. No.798,923, Feb. 13, 1969 [45] Patented May 25, 1971 [73] Assignee OakElectro/Netics Corp.

[54] WAFER ROTARY SWITCH WITH STATOR PRINTED CIRCUIT CONTACT PrimaryExaminerRobert K. Schaefer Assistant Examiner-J. R. ScottAttorneyI-iofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman & McCord STRUCTURE AND ROTOR1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] [1.8. CI 200/11, ABSTRACT; A printed circuit rotary switch withstator clips ZOO/166, 29/622 soldered thereon and having wiping surfacesspaced from the [5 Int. surface of the witch ectio The rotor blade ismounted on a [50] Field Of Search ..200/ll (D), fl d bod in alignmentwith the wiper contacts and has 166 166 29/622 legs extending throughthe rotor opening securing the rotor to 56 R f the stator. The statorhas spiral inductors for a tuner printed 1 e wees on one surface, withthe beginning terminal of one inductor UNITED STATES PATENTS radiallyaligned with the ending terminal of the next and 2,789,212 4/ 1957Achenbach et al. 200/ 1 1(D) joined by a stator contact.

20 7 20 I 13 l l l Li I ll I s P ll 25 242 26a 3 PATENTEU W25 |97l sum 1or 2 PATENIED m 2 5 l57| SHEU 2 OF 2 WAFER ROTARY SWITCH WITH STATORPRINTED CIRCUIT CONTACT STRUCTURE AND ROTOR This application is adivision of Meyer application Ser. No. 798,923, filed Feb. 13, 1969, andassigned to the assignee of this invention.

This invention is concerned with a printed circuit switch particularlyintended for switching inductors in a multiple frequency tuned circuit.

In a rotary switch it is command to have s stator section of a phenolicresin insulating sheet with a rotor opening in the center and on whichwiper contacts are riveted. The wiper contacts lie in radial slotsextending outwardly from the rotor opening with their wiper surfacesaligned with one surface of the stator. The rotor cont'a'ct blade liesflat against the surface of the stator around the rotor opening and issecured to a rotor body which has a bearing ring on the opposite surfaceof the stator. It is known to deposit printed circuitry directly on suchswitch stators. However, where size is important, as in a televisiontuner, the reduction of stator surface area because of the slots makesthis construction undesirable.

The switch section of this invention eliminates the stator contactslots, providing maximum surface area for the printed circuitry.

One feature of the invention is that the wiper contacts are mounted onthe surface of the stator with the wiping surfaces spaced from thestator surface. No slot is required, and. the rotor blade is spaced fromthe stator surface to engage the wiper clips.

Another feature is that the circuitry is printed on one surface of thestator and the stator contacts are on the opposite surface and haveportions which extend into openings in the stator and are soldered tothe circuit.

A further feature is that the circuit includesspiral inductors with thebeginning terminal of one inductor aligned with the end terminal of theadjacent and connected by a stator clip extending radially outwardlyfrom the rotor opening.

And another feature is that the rotor blade is spaced from the statorsurface, as by a flange on the rotor body, the blade having legs thereonwhich extend through the opening in the stator and overlie the oppositestator surface to hold the rotor in place.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of one face of the stator (before soldering),showing the circuitry thereon;

FIG. 2 is a view of the opposite face of the stator;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section through the rotor;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section through a stator clip;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the rotor;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary view showing the mounting of a statorcontact on the stator; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged section along line 7-7 of FIG. 2.

The invention is illustrated in a switch section for a VHF televisiontuner; and certain features of the switch are particularly adapted forthis use. However, some features of the switch may be used in othertypes of rotary switches and particularly other rotary switches havingprinted circuitry on the stator elements.

The switch section has a stator 10 and a rotor 11, 169 1 and 2. Stator10 is a phenolic or other insulating sheet material with a central rotoropening 13 and a pair of mounting tabs l4, 15 to be received in slots inthe frame of a tuner (not shown). On the face 10a of the stator sectionillustrated in FIG. 1, there are a series of inductor sections 16-2through 16-13, corresponding with the 12 VHF television channels. Theinductor sections are preferably printed circuitry deposited or etchedin a suitable manner. Inductor 16-2 has a spiral configuration startingat an inner terminal 16-2a and ending at an outer terminal 16-2b. Eachof the terminals is defined by a conductive area surrounding an openingin the stator which also receives mounting portions of the statorcontacts, as will appear. There are two sets of openings 17-1 throughl7-13 and 18-1 through 18-13 with each set of openings being concentricabout the rotor opening and with corresponding openings elongatedradially with respect to the rotor opening.

The numerical suffix for the radially aligned pairs of openings isdetermined by the relative position of the opening closest the rotoropening and representing the inner terminal of each of the spiralinductors. For example, the inner terminal l6-2a of inductor 16-2 isformed around opening 17-1 while the outer terminal 16-2b of theinductor is formed around opening 18-2. This pattern is continued forinductors 16-3 through 16-6 of the low frequency portion of the VHFband. Inductors 16-2 through 16-6 are connected in series by the statorcontact clips, described below. Inductors 16-7 through 16-13 do not havea spiral configuration and are connected between conductor 19 andterminals at openings 17-7 through 17-13. Only a portion of the inductorterminals and openings are numbered in FIGS. 1 and 2, to indicate thepattern of identification. Applying a reference numeral to each wouldunnecessarily complicate the drawing.

Stator clips 20-1 through 20-13 are mounted on the face l-b of thestator, surrounding the rotor opening 13. Each of the stator clips hasmounting portions extending into the appropriate mounting openings and,in the completed form of the switch section, are secured by solder, notshown in FIG. 2. The stator clips have a pair of wiping contact surfaces20a, 20b (FIG. 3) in a plane spaced from and parallel with the surfaceof the stator 10. This eliminates the need for slots extending outwardlyfrom the rotor opening to receive the stator contact as in the usualswitch section such as shown in Gelzer US. Pat. No. 2,954,469. Theentire surface of the stator surrounding opening 13 is available for theprinted circuitry.

The inner terminal 16-6a of inductor 16 is not connected with statorclip 20-6, but is formed around opening 19 for connection with anothercircuit element. Rotor 11 has a body 22 on which a rotor contact plate23 is mounted. The rotor body, which may. be molded or plastic, has aboss portion 24 (FIG. 4) which is received in the rotor opening 13 ofthe stator. A flange 25 extends outwardly beyond the rotor opening andbears against the surface of the stator. The rotor contact blade 23overlies the flange 25 and is positioned by the flange in the plane ofthe contact surfaces of the stator clips, spaced from the statorsurface. Rotor blade 23 has amounting legs 26 which extend throughopenings 27 in the flange and lie in grooves 28 in the surface of boss24. The ends 26a of legs 26 extend outwardly along the surface 10a ofthe stator, cooperating with flange 25 to secure the rotor in place. Acentral opening 30 in the rotor receives a shaft (not shown) for turningthe rotor with respect to the stator. The rotor may have a resilientwall section which accommodates dimensional variations in accordancewith US. Pat. No. 3,213,253.

The stator clips 20 (FIG. 4) are preferably a single length of suitableresilient contact material having (except clip 20-1) double wipingsurfaces 20a, 20b fonned at the ends thereof. The contact is folded at20c and the folded portion is bent at. right angles to the plane of thecontact forming a first mounting portion 20d. A tang 202 extends fromthe contact parallel with mounting portion 20d, forming a secondmounting portion intermediate the ends thereof. Mounting portion 20d isreceived in one of the outer mounting openings 18 while tang 20e isreceived in one of the inner circle of mounting openings 17. Tang 202has a longitudinal stiffening rib 20f (FIG. 6), and is pressed intostator opening 17 with a force fit. The end of tang 20e is formed overupon insertion and engages the stator. The clip is thus held in positionduring assembly.

In the manufacture of the switch section, the printed circuitry isapplied to the punched stator blank. The rotor is then assembled byinserting the rotor body 22 with the rotor blade 23 mounted thereon intoopening 13. The ends of legs 26 are then formed outwardly to retain therotor on the stator. With the rotor in place, the stator clips aremounted on the side of the stator opposite the printed circuitry. Longstator clip 20-1 has only an upper leaf 20-1a which engages, the rotorblade 23, FIG. 7. With the rotor in the position of FIG. 2, all statorclips may be assembled on the stator board 10 by automatic insertionmachinery. The lack of a lower leg on contact 20-1 avoids interferencewith the rotor blade.

1 Next additional circuit components (not shown) and connecting wiresfor the switch are mounted with the ends of the terminals extendingthrough appropriate openings in the stator. The assembly is thensoldered, as by dip soldering, completing the electrical contact circuitbetween the terminals of the inductors and the stator clips, physicallysecuring the clips in place and mechanically and electrically connectingthe other components and wires (FIG. 4).

I claim: 1. A printed circuitswitch comprising: a stator of sheetmaterial with a rotor opening therein; circuitry printed on one face ofsaid stator; stator switch clips mounted on the other face of the sheetand connected with said circuitry, the stator being unslotted and theswitch clips each have a wiping surface spaced outwardly from thesurface of said stator;

a rotor member of insulating material received in said rotor opening,having a flange extending radially outwardly beyond the rotor opening inthe stator and bearing-against the surface thereof and a boss portionextending from the flange into the opening in the stator, with aplurality of holes in the flange and grooves in the peripheral surfaceof the boss, aligned with the holes; and

a contact blade on said rotor, spaced by said flange from the surface ofthe stator, to lie in the plane of the wiping surface of said statorcontacts for switching engagement with said stator clips on said oneside of the stator, said contact blade having legs which extend throughthe holes and the grooves of the rotor with the ends thereof overlyingthe surface of the stator opposite that on which the stator switch clipsare mounted to hold the rotor on the stator.

1. A printed circuit switch comprising: a stator of sheet material with a rotor opening therein; circuitry printed on one face of said stator; stator switch clips mounted on the other face of the sheet and connected with said circuitry, the stator being unslotted and the switch clips each have a wiping surface spaced outwardly from the surface of said stator; a rotor member of insulating material received in said rotor opening, having a flange extending radially outwardly beyond the rotor opening in the stator and bearing against the surface thereof and a boss portion extending from the flange into the opening in the stator, with a plurality of holes in the flange and grooves in the peripheral surface of the boss, aligned with the holes; and a contact blade on said rotor, spaced by said flange from the surface of the stator, to lie in the plane of the wiping surface of said stator contacts for switching engagement with said stator clips on said one side of the stator, said contact blade having legs which extend through the holes and the grooves of the rotor with the ends thereof overlying the surface of the stator opposite that on which the stator switch clips are mounted to hold the rotor on the stator. 